PROPERTY IN THE HEADLINES VivoPlex brings fertility sensors to Milton Park and hopes to expand

VivoPlex Group, which is developing technology to improve the success rate of fertility treatment, has taken on laboratory and office premises in Milton Park, Oxford.

The health technology company’s new HQ accommodates its 15 research and development, and corporate staff and allows for recruitment under the leadership of new Finance Director Stuart Webb.

The new facilities will also incorporate a clean room for in-house manufacture of its intra-uterine device.

The company, a spin-out from the University of Southampton, produces wireless, battery-free sensors which monitor three parameters in the uterine environment – temperature, pH and oxygen level – to optimise fertility and uterine health.

Joanna Smart, CEO of VivoPlex, said: “Our expansion to Oxford is an important milestone in VivoPlex’s development, bringing us the facilities we need to move our intra-uterine biosensor through the next phases of clinical and commercial development.

“Location in this medtech and digital health cluster also provides access to the talent, expertise and funding which will drive our future growth.”

Around 12 per cent of women wishing to have a child experience subfertility and the IVF market is growing at 11 per cent a year, driven by factors such as rising age at which women are having children and increasing disposable income globally.

The VivoPlex product comprises an insertable monitor no bigger than an intra- uterine device (IUD or coil) plus discreet briefs which provide wireless power to the device and transmit data to software for use by the fertility specialist.

It has generated positive results in early studies and has potential in a range of other applications such as livestock monitoring and animal welfare.